


How Do You Get Blood Out of Silk?

by April_Showers



Series: Imagines Alternate Universe Volume 1 [4]
Category: Castle
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, First Meetings, Laundry, Meet-Cute, Mild Blood, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-11
Updated: 2015-05-11
Packaged: 2018-03-30 00:32:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3916504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/April_Showers/pseuds/April_Showers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She turned towards him, a mix of exhaustion and annoyance, and asked him something he never thought he would hear in a laundromat-‘how do you get blood out of silk?’</p>
            </blockquote>





	How Do You Get Blood Out of Silk?

**Author's Note:**

> 'I'm in my underpants waiting for my clothes at the laundromat and your clothes are next to mine and why are they covered in blood?' AU

Richard Castle, at twenty-two years old, up and coming successful mystery writer, living on his own, did not know how to do his own laundry. When he was little, the housekeeper did the laundry, boarding school had a laundry service and so did his university, so he never bothered to learn; which probably was a bad idea in hindsight. The apartment complex he moved into two weeks ago had a lot of pros, including close proximity to a coffee shop and free cable hookup, but he didn’t take into account the major con of lack of washing room. Fortunately, a small coin-operated laundromat was located a block down from the complex.

Unfortunately, that’s where he stood now perplexed, in his only clean pair of boxers with small hearts on them, completely exhausted of every clothing item he owned. How much soap was he supposed to put in again?

Before he seriously considered asking the disgruntled employee thumbing through a worn magazine, a woman, wearing a tight leather jacket and carrying a motorcycle helmet threw in a pair of black trousers and a black blazer into the washer next to him and slammed the lid violently. She heavily sighed, holding up a blush pink button down with mysterious red stains up and down the sleeves. She turned towards him, a mix of exhaustion and annoyance, and asked him something he never thought he would hear in a laundromat-‘how do you get blood out of silk?’

‘You’re asking the wrong person,’ he replied defensively. ‘I’m not quite sure how to even do my own laundry.’

‘You serious?’ the lady scoffed. ‘You’re what-twenty-five, and you can’t even do your own laundry?’

‘I’m twenty-two. And when you say it like that-‘

‘I don’t have time for this. Typical for the day I’m having,’ she grumbled.

‘Wait!’ he shouted, as she walked towards the attendant. She turned around in a huff. ‘Do you want to talk about it? That normally helped my ex-girlfriend when she was mad.’

‘Well it must not have worked if she’s your ex.’

‘No, I-she broke up with me, a week ago,’ he said dejectedly. She recoiled somewhat, but complied.

‘Fine. My first day out in the field as a proper homicide detective, and a civilian gets hurt and it’s my fault.’

‘How?’

‘I was pursuing a suspect, and the guy pushed a lady into a brick wall corner to get away. I stopped to help her subside the bleeding from her cuts on her forehead with my sleeves. She was fine, just a couple of stitches, and my partner caught the guy a few blocks up.’

‘It didn’t sound like it was your fault.’

‘Yes it was! If I caught him faster, the woman wouldn’t have gotten hurt and –‘

‘Hey,’ he started, cautiously placing a hand on her shoulder ‘Don’t beat yourself over this. It was only your first day, you’re bound to make some mistakes.’

‘I just want to make the captain proud,’ she sighed quietly.

‘You seem like you’re great at your job. That woman is probably so grateful you cared enough to stop and help and risk the suspect getting away. Plus, your looks are just the icing on top of the already amazing cake.’ The detective flushed a bright pink.         

‘Why are you being so nice to me? I made fun of you because you can’t do your own laundry. Granted, it’s a skill you probably should have.’

 'You seem…intriguing. I always love a story.’ She looked up at him with kind eyes, and gave a sideways smile.

 ‘You seem like you always know the right thing to say.’ She stuck her hand out for a shake. ‘My name’s Beck-my name’s Kate.’ 

 ‘Rick,’ he said without breaking eye contact to her mesmerizing hazel orbs. ‘I’m a writer-it’s my job to know what to say. And I think you need a saltwater mix to get the blood out.’

  ‘Wait, how do you know that?’

  ‘Like I said, writer. Always doing research. You wouldn’t believe some of the crazy stuff I know.’

   Kate rolled her eyes and grinned. ‘I’ll help you with your laundry. God knows you’ll need it. 


End file.
